Accidentally in Love
by usulblue444
Summary: Twenty-six short stories centered on Hanso and Brynn's relationship. Brynnso. Rated T for language, and some suggestive content.
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note: **

Hello, everyone. I am back after months of not updating or writing anything Neopets related. I got bored with my AotA plot parody, because that plot really sucked. I didn't have the motivation to try and make it funny or somewhat decent. So, I am starting my new project - 26 short stories centered on Hanso and Brynn - to help me improve my writing when it comes to dealing with relationships and romance. There will be one story based on either a prompt word or song starting with each letter of the alphabet. Prompt ideas and requests for a story are greatly appreciated, as I do not have an idea for every letter just yet. I will consider any requests or ideas, unless they are for a sex scene. I am not comfortable writing one for a number of reasons.

The events in this story are unrelated to whatever happened in my old TFR parodies. This is an entirely new takes on the characters based off of what information TNT has given out. However, because TNT can be rather vague at times, I have made up a bit of information to fill in some gaps (such as ages). Since I will refer to some of these things in the story, I'd advise you read it.

**Character Ages** - Brynn and Hanso are stated to be in their late teens, and so both are nineteen in this story. Brynn's birthday is sometime in November, while Hanso's is in December, making her a month older than him. She uses this age gap to justify bossing Hanso around when she is off-duty.

Brynn began her guard training at the age of fourteen, coincidentally at the same time Hanso dropped out of school and decided to run away from home. She completed her training at the age of eighteen, and was appointed Captain of the Brightvale Guard at the age of nineteen, prior to the Faerie Festival incident. Given that the incident ended in Neopia before it did in our world (we'll say end of September), Brynn and Hanso were still nineteen when the reconstruction of Faerieland was completed, and they both turned twenty shortly after.

**Education in Neopia** - Every Neopian land has its own elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school, with the exception of Tryannia (where neopets are taught life skills by their elders). The size of the schools vary, depending on the population of the land. Larger lands may have more than one of each type of school.

In Brightvale students typically complete K-12, and from there either go into the work force, or choose to further their education by studying at the University of Brightvale, one of the top universities in all of Neopia. Students may choose to attend a university in another land if they wish.

If they so choose, they may forgo their high school education to instead study at the Knight Academy, where they will train to go into Law Enforcement. Regular lessons will be held in addition to their training. This is where Brynn studied to become a guard.

**Brynn's Career Post-TFR** - Brynn was appointed Captain of Fyora's Guard after the reconstruction of Faerieland was completed. The ceremony took place before the festival celebrating the completion of the new Faerieland in addition to Hanso and Brynn's victory over Xandra.

Torn between her loyalty to Brightvale and King Hagan, and her new loyalty to Faerieland and Queen Fyora, Brynn opted to keep both of her jobs by appointing a second captain in each guard to take over her place when she can not be there, assuming that she is second-in-command to both King Hagan and Queen Fyora. They will also cover for her when she is hunting for dangerous artefacts with Hanso. She lives on the outskirts of Brightvale/Faerieland in order to make this arrangement work.

Thanks for reading. The first chapter will be up either January 17th or 18th. And I apologize for the lame title. I could not think of anything better and my iTunes was open.

- Heather


	2. A: Autographs and Confessions

There are a lot of stories where Hanso finally finds out how Brynn feels about him. Most of them, however, are from Brynn's perspective (or rather, they center on Brynn). This time I decided to focus on Hanso. May be completely cheesy, because it is late here and I am tried.

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><p><strong>Autographs and Confessions<strong>

_"Can I have your autograph?"_

* * *

><p>One month ago, Hanso and Brynn had defeated Xandra, and saved Faerieland's residents from their new life as garden statues. While the spell was broken, all was not quite right in Neopia just yet. After all, Faerieland still remained a pile of rubble on the ground.<p>

Once Queen Fyora recovered, plans were formed to rebuild the castle on the land, rather than trying to rebuild it in the air and have it come crashing back down again. Faeries offered rewards to the kind Neopians who helped them rebuild their city by gathering up materials and supplies. The reconstruction had been completed a few days ago, and now the Queen of Faerieland was holding a festival to celebrate the city's new look, as well as Hanso and Brynn's victory over Xandra.

"Can I have your autograph?"

Hanso looked down at the young faerie Aisha who had just requested his autograph. "Uh, sure," he replied, reaching for the glittery pen and hot pink notebook that she had thrust at him.

"My name is Mandy," the Aisha said without being prompted. "That's Em-eh-ehn-dee-why." She watched as Hanso scribbled a quick message, and signed it with his name. "Thank you!" she squealed when he had finished, and ran away to go show off her notebook to the rest of her pre-teen friends.

Normally, Hanso would have loved all the attention. After so many years of being treated as a nuisance, it was nice to feel appreciated. (Though he could do without all the young girls who seemed to have a crush on him.) He should be enjoying the celebration, bragging about his many fangirls to King Jazan, and offering to tell his 100% completely true, not-exaggerated-at-all version of events to anybody who listened.

However, he had more important things on his mind at the moment.

After Xandra's defeat, King Altador and King Jazan had returned to their respective kingdoms to check up on their citizens, and make sure that the damage had not spread past Faerieland. They had returned to Faerieland shortly afterwards to help Queen Fyora with the reconstruction of the city. He and Brynn had helped as well, deciding to stay in Faerieland until it had been fully restored.

But now that the city was complete once again, and the celebration was nearing its end, it was time for them all to part ways. For good this time. After all, everybody had somewhere to return to. Everybody expect for him.

Hanso sighed, leaning back against the trunk of the tree he had been standing under. He looked over to where Brynn stood a few meters away, chatting to some of her fellow guards. Tonight was the last night he'd be able to spend with her before she returned to Brightvale. And who knows when he'd ever see her again after that?

Hanso had always had a bit of a crush on Brynn. His feelings for her seemed pointless, downright stupid before. He was a thief, she was a guard. There was no way in Neopia she would ever want a relationship with the guy she threw in jail for a living. She deserved better.

But then she had kissed him, just after Fyora had reversed the destroyed artefact's effect on him. And now he was confused. Did she have feelings for him too, or was it just a happy, spur-of-the-moment kind of thing? She had to have been pretty emotional after all that she had been through.

Before he could ponder that thought, Brynn caught his eye, and excused herself from her conversation with her fellow guards. She made her way over to Hanso, who was frantically trying to figure out what the hell he was going to say to her.

"Hey, Hanso," Brynn greeted him with a smile. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, loads of fun." Hanso plastered a grin on his face, hoping it looked convincing enough. "I, uh, I've been meaning to talk to you about something, though. If that's alright."

"I'm not going to stop you," Brynn replied.

"Look," he began, shoving his hands into the pockets of his well-worn coat, "after Queen Fyora turned me back, you kissed me. It was just on the cheek, I know, but I was wondering if... if it meant something to you. Because it meant something to me." He dropped his gaze down to the grass below, waiting nervously for her response. He half expected her to start laughing.

"Hanso! Brynn!" There you are!" Brynn didn't get a chance to say what she wanted to Hanso, for Queen Fyora had suddenly appeared, and requested to have a word with them. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she added with a smile.

"Oh, no," Hanso lied. "Perfect timing. Please go on."

"I know that you two have already done a lot for Faerieland, but I was wondering if you would like to help me with something else. You see, there are other dangerous artefacts hidden all over Neopia, just waiting to fall into the wrong hands. If you two could help me track the last of them down to prevent anything like this from ever happening again, I would be eternally grateful," the Queen of Faerieland informed them.

Hanso and Brynn exchanged looks, before Brynn turned back to Queen Fyora and told her that the two of them would be delighted to help.

"Thank you both so much," Queen Fyora replied. "I would like to meet with the both of you tomorrow to further explain your mission." With that, she bid them goodbye, and vanished in a purple puff of smoke.

"Doesn't waste any time, does she?" Hanso asked. In reality, he was quite pleased with what Queen Fyora had asked them to do. It would allow him to continue to work with Brynn, and he would no longer have to worry about having no home to return to, for the time being, anyways.

"She's busy, I suppose." Brynn hesitated for a few second, before adding "So, about what you said before-"

Hanso didn't let her finish her sentence that time, either. Without thinking, he leaned in, and pressed his lips against hers, effectively cutting her off. After a couple of seconds he pulled away.

"_Shit_," he said. "Brynn, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Shit. That was wrong." He turned away from her, and glanced around the party, looking for an escape route.

"Hanso, wait!" Brynn grabbed his arm before he could run off. "It's okay-"

"Just forget about it, Brynn," Hanso replied. "It was stupid of me to think that you'd feel the same. Let's just pretend it never happened and-"

"_Hanso,_" Brynn said in an exasperated tone of voice, "Shut. Up. If you would stop cutting me off every time I try to tell you just how much you mean to me, you would know that I feel the same."

"You... you do?" Hanso turned back to face her again, temporarily stunned into silence.

"Yes. Before you joined forces with Xandra I... I wanted to tell you that I love you," Brynn continued. "I didn't realize it until then, and when I saw you had been turned to stone... I thought I was too late." She looked up at Hanso, waiting for a response.

"I love you too, Brynn," Hanso smiled. A genuine one, not the cheesy, fake one he generally used. After glancing around quickly to determine that they were alone, Hanso leaned in to kiss her again. A proper one, this time.


	3. B: Balls of the Dancing Variety

Hello, everyone. BEHOLD MY NEW BRYNNSO ICON. That I, uh, shamelessly stole from the plot comic. Anyways, this story is slightly later than I wanted to release it, but my excuse is exams and Supernatural and Skyward Sword. Distractions aside, this chapter is based off the prompt submitted by YtelAlil. I added a bit more to the beginning of the story, because it would have been pretty short otherwise. I hope you enjoy it.

ETA: I almost forgot to thank you guys for all the lovely comments. You are all amazing, even the lurkers.

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><p><strong>Balls (Of the Dancing Variety)<strong>

_"What was _he_ doing here?"_

* * *

><p>Every year, at the beginning of summer, Brightvale's Knight Academy held a ball for the graduating class, which all of the students were invited to attend.<p>

And every year, Brynn ignored that invitation in favour of spending some quality bonding time with her favourite thief. It was the one night a year the two of them could hold a proper conversation without of being seen by other guards on duty, and as much as Brynn hated to admit it, she rather enjoyed his company.

"So," Hanso said loudly over the sound of Brynn clamping a pair of handcuffs around his wrists. His tone of voice was cheerful, despite the fact that he was about to be led off to his usual cell in Brightvale's dungeons. "I guess you're going to miss our date tomorrow night, aren't you?"

"It's _not_ a date!" Brynn hissed, glancing around the busy marketplace quickly to ensure that nobody had overheard Hanso's comment. She didn't want anyone to get the impression - the _wrong_ impression - that she had some sort of connection with the thief, let alone a romantic one. "And I don't know what you're talking about," she added, lowering her voice.

"You're going to the graduation ball, aren't you?" Hanso either did not see why he should need to lower his voice, or simply did not care.

"I never go to the graduation ball, Hanso. Why would tomorrow night be any different?"

Hanso, surprised at this bit of information, stopped in his tracks, causing Brynn to bump into him. "Because you're graduating this year! You might have skipped all the other dances, but you can't miss the one for your own class!"

"I don't like dances, Hanso. I don't see why I should force myself to go to a ball that I'm not even going to enjoy. Besides, it's not like anybody wants to go with me," she said, avoiding eye contact.

"You're the only girl at the academy, I'm sure there's_ some_ desperate guy that would go with you," Hanso informed her.

"I don't want to be their last resort!" Brynn snapped. "I have feelings, you know!"

"Sorry, I was just trying to cheer you up..."

"Well you're not doing a very good job of it."

The two walked the rest of the way to the dungeons in silence. After escorting Hanso inside the dungeon, confiscating his lock picking tools, and locking him in the cell, Brynn turned to leave.

"Wait!" Hanso yelled.

She turned back to look at him. "I'm not breaking you out of jail, Hanso-"

"That's not what I want," he replied. "Just... promise me you'll go to the graduation ball tomorrow, okay?"

"Hanso..."

"Please?" He reached through the bars to brush a stray piece of her out of her face. Brynn felt her cheeks flush.

"Just _what_ do you think you are doing?" she asked, frowning. Thank Fyora they were the only two in the dungeons right now. If any of the other guards saw this...

"Uh, nothing," Hanso said quickly, interrupting her thought. He withdrew his hand, and slipped the hair pin he'd just stolen from Brynn into his pocket when she wasn't looking. He needed some way to get out, he had plans. "Have fun at the dance tomorrow night," he added with a cheesy grin.

Brynn rolled her eyes. "I never said I was going, I don't even think I own dress..." Hanso watched with a satisfied smile as she walked out of the dungeons muttering to herself.

- x -

And that was how Brynn found herself at the graduation ball, in a dress that she had bought at the last minute, wishing that she hadn't listened to Hanso. She had spent most of the evening standing by herself, turning down anybody that did ask her to dance. Halfway through the evening, most boys had simply stopped trying.

As she was debating whether she should just leave, Brynn caught a flash of the all too recognizable blue fur, and swore under her breath. What was _he_ doing here?

Brynn made her way over to where she had last seen him - near an archway leading out into some gardens. The evening air was cool on her bare arms and shoulders.

"Hello, Brynneth," she heard a voice say from behind. "At the risk of being hit, might I say that you're looking especially pretty tonight?"

Brynn spun around angrily. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "You can't be here! You're a thief! If they catch you here we are both going to be in trouble!"

"But we're alone," Hanso pointed out. "Everybody is inside. Besides, nobody saw me sneak in. Except for that one guy I punched... but I don't think he'll be coming to anytime soon."

Brynn sighed. "You should leave," she said. "Now."

"Aw, come on Brynn. The ball is almost over, and I'm willing to bet all of my stolen neopoints that you've spent the entire evening standing by yourself. You deserve to have some fun don't you?"

"_Stolen_ neopoints? Hanso you-"

"Dance with me," he interrupted before she could attempt to arrest him.

"What?" Brynn stared at him, unsure that she had heard him correctly.

"I said, dance with me," Hanso repeated.

Brynn sighed for the second time. This wasn't right. She shouldn't be doing this. He was an annoying thief and she was a responsible guard. The only thing she should be doing right now was leading him to one of the older guards supervising the dance and have them drag him off to the dungeons. "Alright. I'll dance with you, if you promise to leave after that." Why did she say that?

The music playing inside could still be heard faintly in the gardens. Brynn froze when she realized it was a slow song. She hesitated before placing her arms around his neck. Hanso wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to his body than she had anticipated. They moved around in a slow circle to the music. Brynn would never admit it, but she was finally beginning to enjoy herself.

Eventually they broke apart, three minutes after the music had stopped. Funny enough, neither of them had noticed it. "They'll probably be looking for you now," Hanso said. "I'll see you around, I suppose." He gave her a hug goodbye, and disappeared off into the rest of the gardens, taking the same route he took to get in.

Brynn turned to rejoin the students inside, a faint trace of a smile on still her face.


	4. C: Christmas Gifts

Hello readers! Earlier update this time, because I want to be able to publish Chapter 4 on Valentine's day. ;] Unfortunately I was able to get this up when I finished writing it, because FanFiction has been having some problems with letting users log in today and what not.

This chapter is my take on the 2011 advent calender animation featuring Brynn and Hanso. I had to watch it a second time before collecting my gift because I fangirl'd so much when I saw Brynn I missed the rest of the animation. She really doesn't get as much attention as she deserves. And then I fangirl'd again after I watched the whole thing. It was awesome, if you look past the creepy eyes, Brynn's odd giggle... thing, and Hanso's creeper laugh at the end.

And that's not it! Because just writing about TNT's animation is kind of lame, I rewrote something from my old TFR Continuation. It was kind of a silly story, and I wanted to be able to write it in a more serious manner, or rather, how I actually pictured it to go down. That being said, the ending is somewhat suggestive, as in it leads up to sex but no actual sex takes place. I said at the beginning that I'm not going to go that far, and I want to keep this T-rated. If anybody really wants to read that sort of fanfiction, there's actually a Brynnso story with a sex scene if you look under the M-rated stories. That's all I'm going to say about that.

On with the story...

* * *

><p><strong>Christmas Gifts<strong>

_"You _snuck into_ jail?"_

* * *

><p>Brynn was not a big fan of the winter season. The conditions made guard duty a lot more difficult, with poor visibility during heavier snowfalls, icy streets, and cold air that her chain mail did little against keeping it out.<p>

December in particular was the worst. With Christmas coming up, many of the members of the Brightvale guard took time off work to spend the holidays with their families. As Brynn was one of the younger members, she was often stuck filling in for them.

It wasn't that she didn't have a family to go home to. She did. She just hadn't been on the best of terms with them ever since she chose to go study at the Knight Academy - which, up until Brynn joined, had been a boys only school. It had taken a lot of begging and pleading to get in, and in the end, King Hagan remained the only one convinced that Brynn should be allowed to join.

As a result of this, Brynn chose to live in the Knight Academy's dormitories rather than at home with her parents. After graduating, Brynn had bought her own place with the money she had saved up over the years. It wasn't particularly large, but Brynn spent most of her time at work anyways.

This year was no different. The weeks leading up to the much-anticipated holiday sped by, until Brynn found herself on cell duty on the day of Christmas Eve.

"Hey, sweetheart!" one of the prisoners called out as she passed by.

Brynn ignored him. She had quickly learned that any sentence including the word "sweetheart" was most likely not one she wanted to hear, particularly when it was coming from a thief. She continued to pace the cell area, a bitter expression on her face. Her shift would be over in an hour. One more hour of this, and then she could go home and enjoy Christmas by herself. That was the way she liked it. Honestly.

A flash of blue fur caught her eye, and she stopped in her tracks, confused. She hadn't caught him stealing recently, so why was he here? He was too quick for the other guards to catch, and the one time he had been caught he had managed to fight off all three guards by himself. ...Not that she had been impressed or anything.

"Hanso?" she said, turning around.

"For a moment there I thought you'd walk past me," Hanso replied. "Nice to see you, by the way."

"What are you doing in here, Hanso?" Brynn sighed.

"I snuck in." Hanso's voice was full of pride.

"You _snuck into_ jail?" Brynn blinked. Hanso had broken out of jail many, many times. She would have never thought that he would go and break into jail. "Why?"

"I got you something for Christmas," he said with his trademark grin. "I couldn't find you on the streets, so I figured you'd be in here. And I didn't steal it, I promise," he added before Brynn could interrupt. "I have a receipt and everything, Brynn. Do you want to see it?"

Brynn giggled, trying to picture how the shopkeeper must have reacted when Hanso had wandered into their shop to buy something. "Thanks, Hanso," she said, taking the gift from him. "That's really nice of you. I wish I had something to give you too, though."

"Letting me out of here would be nice," Hanso suggested. "Since I'm not really supposed to be here in the first place..."

Brynn nodded, and pulled out the keys to the cell, and unlocked it for Hanso. She then led him out of the jail cell, blissfully unaware of the fact that while Hanso may have bought the gift, he had stolen the neopoints he used to buy it.

- x -

A few years had passed, and it was Christmas time once again in Neopia. Christmas morning, to be exact.

"It's nice having the holidays to ourselves this year," Hanso commented. He was seated beside Brynn on the couch in her living room, which he had helped decorate for the holidays. "Hopefully we'll have a few more weeks off until Fyora discovers another dangerous artefact for us to hunt down."

"It's not exactly a stressful job, though," Brynn pointed out.

"Oh no, it's like a vacation if you don't count all the scary tombs, and locals, and fangirls, and snakes, and spyders and stuff we have to put up with before getting the artefact."

The two neopets had been living together since Faerieland's grand rebuild, leaving Brightvale whenever Queen Fyora found new information on an artefact that could potentially harm Neopia. King Hagan wasn't too pleased when he found out about this living arrangement, but as Hanso was now working for Fyora, (who King Hagan had a great amount of respect for) he couldn't really do much about the ex-thief.

"Do you remember the time I broke into jail to give you a Christmas gift?" Hanso asked, changing the topic.

"How could I forget?"

"I was disappointed that I couldn't break into Faerieland's dungeons to do the same this year," he informed her. "So I guess I'll just have to settle for giving it to you now."

"I told you not to get me anything."

"You got me something." He gestured to the unwrapped present that sat on the coffee table in front of them.

"A new dagger, since you lost your old one in the tombs of Geraptiku. Not exactly special."

"Well it came from you, so _I_ think it's special." Brynn rolled her eyes. "Here's your gift," Hanso said, pulling out a small box from his pocket. "I... I hope you like it."

Brynn was one of those pets who had an annoying habit of unwrapping everything they received in a slow, careful manner. After what seemed like ten minutes to Hanso, she had finished with the wrapping paper, and opened up the box. Her eyes widened. Inside was a ring.

"I know we've only been together for a few years," Hanso said before Brynn could say anything. "But we've known each other a lot longer than that. We've been through a lot together. Stopping Xandra, hunting artefacts..." Hanso had planned out this speech weeks in advance, but he could no longer remember what exactly he was going to say. "I love you, Brynn. And... there's been a lot of times when I thought I was going to lose you. But I don't want to lose you... I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Brynn."

"Hanso?" Brynn said at last, interrupting his speech.

"Yessss?" Hanso was nervous. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he had ever felt so nervous.

"Are... are you asking me to marry you?" Brynn asked, looking up from the box. Hanso nodded. He waited for her reaction. He was afraid that she was going to tell him that marriage wasn't what she wanted. Or maybe she did want to get married some day, just not to him. What was he even thinking when he bought that ring? What kind of girl wants to marry a thief, especially one she used to throw in jail for a living?

"Yes."

"Um, what?" Hanso asked, lost in thought.

Brynn smiled. "Yes, I'll marry you, you idiot."

"You... will?"

"You're rather slow today, aren't you?" she teased. She leaned over to kiss him. Had he been paying any attention, he would have notice that she had already slipped the ring on herself. The empty box was now sitting on the table, along with the box his new dagger had come in.

"Hey," he said when she pulled back, "you be nice to me. I am fiancé now, after all."

"That's true."

"And," he continued, leaning back against the couch's armrest, "you're going to make it up to me. I demand another kiss."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Not only did I just make a complete fool out of myself, but you called me an idiot. After I _proposed_ to you." His grin indicated that he was far from being upset, though.

"Well, technically you didn't really propose to me, I figured it out and said yes before you properly asked. But I suppose you can have another kiss..." Brynn kissed him again, moving so that she was now lying on top of him. Hanso slid his hands up her back, underneath her shirt.

It wasn't long before most of their clothes lay discarded on the floor, forgotten along with Hanso's new dagger, and the box the ring came in.

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><p>I hope you guys are happy with the chapter, despite the lack of new ideas. If you aren't, complain in the review section and I'll write a bonus chapter after the Valentine's day chapter has been released. Preferably with some sort of idearequest.

Thanks for reading. :]


	5. D: Diversion

I hate Valentine's Day, but I couldn't resist writing a story for the occasion. After all, you can't have a Brynnso story without a Valentine's Day special. :P Plus, I received a request in the form of a PM from Star-Speckled Dragon, which is where I got the idea for today's story from. It's pretty cheesy fluff, but I hope you guys like it.

Also, did you guys see the TFR valentine card set in the news with the adorable Brynnso card? That was the reason why I released this during the evening rather than after school. I was trying to earn enough neopoints to buy it. It's sitting in my gallery now. I regret nothing.

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><p><strong>Diversion<strong>

_A distraction from business, care, etc._

* * *

><p>Queen Fyora was not easily fooled.<p>

There had been one mishap with Xandra, yes, but the Queen of Faerieland had a knack for discovering secrets. Perhaps it was because the faerie occupants of the land were notorious for their rumour spreading and gossiping.

It hadn't taken long for her to discover where a majority of the jewellery that had gone "missing" had disappeared to after the faeries had been revived. It hadn't taken long for he to discover that a rather pricey necklace of hers now resided in the Lost Desert. And it most certainly hadn't taken long for her to see through Brynn and Hanso's claims that they were nothing more than friends.

She was surprised that she seemed to be the only one who had noticed. She thought it was fairly obvious enough, with the blushing and the meaningful looks and the fact that they were hardly ever seen without one another. However, they denied having any feelings for each other when she so much as hinted at it. They had their reasons to, she supposed. After all, not very many pets would be accepting of a relationship between the two. While Hanso had helped saved Faerieland, he still remained an arrogant thief in the eyes of many.

Which was why she wanted to help them out a bit. They had been extremely helpful thus far with the retrieval of dangerous artefacts, and the two deserved a break, no matter how much they denied needing one. All she wanted to do was give them a bit of privacy, something they had been lacking ever since their new-found fame.

"You've discovered another artefact for us to find?" Hanso had been instructed to meet Queen Fyora in her throne room, having been told that she had some important news.

"That is correct," the Queen responded. "I'm sorry for the short notice, but I need you and Brynn to leave for Terror Mountain tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. The train ride will take most of the day, so I'd advice you to rest once the two of you arrive, and get started on Tuesday."

"That's Valentine's Day."

"My apologies if you had something planned." Queen Fyora smiled at Hanso.

"No," Hanso replied, blushing. "I don't have anything planned, and neither does Brynn." It wasn't exactly a lie. He didn't actually have anything planned for tomorrow, but since it was Valentine's Day he had been hoping to do something with Brynn. They hadn't had much time to themselves since being set the task of retrieving artefacts.

"Excellent." The Queen handed Hanso a set of train tickets. "You'll want to leave at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

"I'll let Brynn know." Hanso pocketed the tickets, and left the throne room.

- x -

"Eight o'clock _tomorrow_?"

"That's what Fyora said," Hanso told Brynn. "Crappy timing, I know."

"How are we supposed to have everything we need ready for tomorrow?" Brynn asked, running a hand through her hair. "It's February. It's going to be freezing in Terror Mountain still, and we'll need proper snow gear..."

Hanso sighed, watching as Brynn began to make a list of all the things they'd need for the mission. She seemed more concerned about the time limit than the fact that it would be Valentine's Day the day after tomorrow and they would be working. It had been about a month since the two of them had any free time alone together, and they couldn't exactly go out in public acting like a couple.

"And we don't even know what we're looking for yet, so we'll need to see if we can find some books with information, and... are you even listening to me, Hanso?"

"I'm listening," Hanso lied. "We need...um... books on Terror Mountain and artefacts, right? I'll go to the library now." He stood up from the table they were sitting at, and grabbed his jacket.

"I need to buy him a better coat," Brynn said to herself as she looked up from her list.

- x -

Brynn and Hanso boarded the train to Terror Mountain the next day, after a night of frantic last-minute packing. Brynn had gone to bed late, and had woken up early the next morning to double check that they had packed everything. As a result, she was exhausted and fell asleep on the train about an hour into the journey. It was a long, quiet train ride for Hanso.

The weather in Terror Mountain was terrible, as they soon discovered after leaving the train station.

"Looks like there's going to be a snowstorm," Brynn said, glancing up at the darkening sky as she and Hanso made their way to the cottage where they would be staying.

"Fantastic, just what we need," Hanso muttered. "More snow."

"Aren't you glad you have a new coat now?"

"I still like my old one."

"Of course you do. It's useless, like you," Brynn teased.

"Hey!"

They soon arrived at the small cottage. The inside was dark and cold, and Hanso offered to light a fire while Brynn made dinner. They flipped through the books they brought as they ate, discussing possible locations for the artefact.

"Man, I really hope it's not in the Snowager's pile of stuff," Hanso said. "How would we ever get it out of there?"

"Hopefully we won't have to worry about that," Brynn replied. "It'll probably be somewhere inside the Ice Caves, though.

"Or at the top of the mountain, with our luck. How long do you think it'll take us to find it?"

"A while, considering we don't even know where it is. The possible snowstorm isn't going to help at all."

Hanso sighed. He was not looking forward to tomorrow.

They decided to get some more sleep shortly after they finished eating their dinner. There was only one problem.

"There's only one bed," Hanso pointed out. Fyora hadn't mentioned that the cottage had one bedroom, and the two of them had been expecting separate beds. They normally slept separately on their other missions, and while they lived together when they weren't working, they slept in different bedrooms.

"We'll share, then," Brynn replied, setting her bag down.

"I can sleep on the floor if you want," Hanso offered, "or on the couch in the living room. I don't mind. Actually, it's a lot better than some of the places I've slept before..."

Brynn shook her head. "It's alright, you don't have to do that, Hanso." She was rummaging through her bag for her pyjamas. "I'm going to get changed," she added. Brynn pulled her clothes out her the bag and then left the bedroom.

The sleeping arrangement problem had been solved, but Hanso was left with another. Just what exactly was he supposed to sleep in? His regular clothes were a lot thicker than usual due to the change in climate, and they'd be too uncomfortable to sleep in. He normally only slept in his boxers, and as a result he didn't own any sort of pyjamas.

In the end, he stripped down to his underwear and climbed into bed before Brynn returned. Maybe she wouldn't notice.

- x -

He woke up the next morning to find Brynn was no longer on her designated side of the bed. Instead, she was partially on top of him, with her head resting on his left shoulder and her arm over his chest. His own arms were wrapped around her. When the hell did this happen?

It felt nice though, and Hanso was reluctant to wake her up. He ran his fingers through her hair. It looked nice when she left it down, he wished she would do it more often. He felt her shift slightly, and heard her murmur his name.

"Brynn?"

"Morning," she said, opening her eyes. She rolled onto her back, and sat up. "What time is it?"

"I don't know," Hanso answered. He was suddenly aware of how cold it was in the room without Brynn's warmth. "I don't really want to get out of bed, though."

Brynn smiled. "I don't either, but we've got an artefact to find." She climbed out of bed, and left the bedroom, still in her pyjamas.

Hanso closed his eyes groaned. Of course she was still concerned about the artefact. The fact that it was Valentine's Day and that she'd woken up in his arms had changed nothing. He sighed and dragged himself out of bed. It was going to be a long, cold day.

A few minutes later he found Brynn in the living room of the cottage, a blanket wrapped around her frame, staring out the window. He cleared his throat, and she turned around to face him. "The weather's terrible out there," she told him. She glanced downward and added "You might want to put on some pants, you're going to freeze in just those."

"I was hoping we could stay inside today," Hanso replied. "You said yourself that it's nasty outside..."

"It is Valentine's Day". Brynn had left the window, and was now standing beside Hanso.

"You remembered," he said with a smile. "I thought you had forgotten."

"It's the first time I've had someone to share it with, how could I forget?" She wrapped her arms around him, and he kissed the top of her head.

"So the artefact can wait?"

"Hanso, we're alone, its cold, and there's an insane snowstorm going on outside. The artefact can definitely wait."

- x -

Back in Faerieland, Queen Fyora smiled as she read the weather report for Terror Mountain in the Neopian Times. There was no way Hanso and Brynn were going to go searching for the artefact in that weather. Just as she had planned.

* * *

><p>In case it isn't clear, the request was for Fyora to trick Brynn and Hanso into thinking they were to go on a hunt for a new artefact, but for the trip to actually be a set up for them to have a romantic-y Valentine's thing instead. I do not know what people do on dates, having never been on one myself, so I just had them spend the day together doing whatever your imaginations want them to do.<p>

Anyways, I really hoped you guys like the story, and that you had a better Valentine's Day than I did! There will be a story covering their trip to Geraptiku at some point.


	6. E: Everything is Alright

The beginning of this chapter is kind of dark, but it gets fluffier towards the end, I promise. A new character is introduced, and I have provided more information about them at the bottom of the storing. Also, swearing. I mentioned at the beginning that it was rated T for language (and now suggestive content), but since I haven't used anything particularly offensive up until now, I figured I'd better put another warning.

I'm trying a new layout style thing to keep things looking neater. I'm going to go back later and reformat the previous chapters to match this style, and possibly my other stories.

* * *

><p><strong>Everything is Alright<strong>

_"But I'm getting better at fighting the future,_  
><em> 'Someday you'll be fine..'<em>  
><em> Yes, I'll be just fine." <em>

_- _Everything is Alright_, _Motion City Soundtrack

* * *

><p>The electric green blast of light sends him flying backwards into a wall. The rough grey stonework scrapes his back as he slides down. He swears and opens his eyes, and Xandra smiles at him. He's bleeding, but he doesn't know where it's coming from. His entire body seems to ache.<p>

"Having fun, Hanso?"

"Fuck you."

She sends another blast of green light at him. "I won't tolerate that sort of language, Hanso." He wonders why she doesn't just finish him off. "Now be good. Don't you want to see my surprise?"

He glares at her in response. He has a sinking feeling that her surprise involves Brynn and he doesn't want to see it.

Xandra summons forth a couple of her wraiths. The swirling black and purples masses tower over her. "Bring me the kougra," she commands.

"No," Hanso says, and the wraiths pause, confused by the change of orders.

"Don't listen to him, bring me the kougra!" Xandra yells as them again. The wraiths disappear off into the rubble of what used to be Brightvale Castle. The residents were there too, their statues forms broken by the explosive spells Xandra had used to bring down the castle.

The wraiths return with Brynn, her guard uniform blood-splattered and torn. "Any survivors on our side?" Xandra questions, and the wraiths grunt and shake their heads in response. Brynn is dropped to the ground with a thud, and Hanso hears her groan. "Shut up," Xandra says with disdain.

There's a blast of purple light, and Brynn screams. When Hanso regains his eyes sight, he can see that Xandra's spell has left deep cuts all over her already battered body. Her breathing has become heavy and laboured, and it's clear that she doesn't have too much longer left. There's too much blood, and Hanso doesn't know what to do.

"Stop," he begs, and Xandra turns to look at him. "Leave... leave her alone. I'll do what you want. Just help her, please."

Xandra can see the tears forming in his eyes, and this only amuses her. "Why should I?" she asks. "You stole from me, you betrayed me, you made a fool out of me. I'm not going to just let you die, Hanso. I'm going to make you suffer first. Your heroic sacrifice won't save Brynneth this time." With a wave of her right hand vines shoot out of the ground, and wrap themselves around his wrists and ankles, restraining him.

He can hear Brynn murmur his name, and he pulls against the plants, trying to break free. He fails miserably, and looks up at Xandra one last time. "Please. Just... just let me tell that I love her. One last time before she..." He's unable to finish that sentence, and it doesn't matter anyways. Brynn lays motionless on the ground, her chest no longer rising and falling with each breath. He can feel tears running down his cheeks.

This time there's a flash of blue light, and then everything goes dark. "Brynn..."

- x -

Hanso sat up suddenly, breathing heavily. He had been yelling Brynn's name.

"Hanso? Are you okay?"

He turned when he heard the sound of her voice. They weren't in Brightvale, and Xandra was nowhere to be seen. He was in the tent they had pitched in the forest north of the Kingdom of Altador. In the darkness he could just make out Brynn beside him, fumbling for her sheathed sword and a flashlight.

"I'm fine," he lied. "Go back to sleep." Brynn had abandoned her search for her sword, and flicked on the flashlight, lighting up the interior of the tent. "Seriously," he said, "it was nothing."

"It was nothing?" Brynn repeated. "Hanso, you were yelling my name. I thought you were being attacked."

"No, it was just a bad dream, alright? I'm sorry I woke you up." He lay back down and pulled his blankets back over top of himself, hoping that Brynn would do the same. He doubted that he would get any more sleep that night, but Brynn should.

"I know you're lying." He looked over at her to see that she had climbed out of her nest of blankets and was now sitting on top of them with another blanket draped over her shoulders, and a water bottle in her lap. "I'm not going back to sleep until you tell me what's wrong," she passed him the water bottle as she spoke. "And don't tell me it was just a bad dream."

He sighed, sat back up, and took a sip of water. "Xandra was back. Someone how she got free of her statue form, and she destroyed Brightvale. She made me watch... she made me watch you..." he couldn't finish the sentence. He put the water bottle down, and said "I don't want to talk about it anymore, Brynn. It was bad enough seeing it happen in the dream, I don't particularly want to relive it." He lay back down a second time.

The blankets around him moved, and he felt Brynn lay down beside him. "That's alright," she said. "You don't have to talk." She wrapped her arms around him, and he shifted so that he was facing her, his head resting just below her right shoulder. "Xandra isn't coming back," she told him in a soothing tone of voice. "And we're hunting down any remaining artefacts so it can never happen again."

"I just don't want to lose you," he mumbled.

"You won't," she reassured him. "I love you too much to let that happen again."

- x -

"Daddy?"

Hanso sat up in bed. Brynn was to his left, still fast asleep. He rubbed at his eyes, and looked over to his right, where the small, light blue kougra with messy red hair stood in the door way. He slipped out of bed, and walked over to where she stood, then led her out of the bedroom, and shut the door behind him. "What's the matter," he asked, keeping his voice low, as he did not wish to wake up Brynn.

"I can't sleep."

"Bad dreams?" She nodded. "Do you want me to tell you a story?" She nodded again. Hanso followed her back to her bedroom, flicking on the light switch as he entered the room. He sat down on the bed with her. "What story do you want me to tell?" he asked as she wrapped her blanket around herself, and settled back against her pillow. "The one where I sent King Jazan down to the sewers of Qasala?"

"You told me that story last night."

"How about the time I catapulted myself over the wall of Brightvale Castle?"

"That never happened!"

"It did too," Hanso argued. "I would know, I was there."

The small girl rolled her eyes, looking like a miniature version of her mother. "I want you to tell me about how you met mum," she decided.

"I've already told you that story," Hanso said. "I tried to steal from her on her first day of work."

"I want to hear the whole story," the girl protested.

"Fine," Hanso said, smiling. He began to her the story of how he met Brynn, leaving out only the parts that were not meant for young kids to hear.

It had been five years since his daughter had been born, six years since he and Brynn had gotten married, nine years since his nightmares had stopped, and ten years since Xandra had been defeated. Everything is alright.

* * *

><p>The new character is Hanso and Brynn's daughter, who has yet to be named. (Suggestions?) She will most likely make an appearance in future chapters of this story.<p>

I imagine her to have Brynn's hair colour, Hanso's eye colour, and pirate paint brush coloured fur. Why? Hanso and Brynn got drunk while in Krawk Island and conceived her (or something). Also, it's a nice shade of blue/grey. Her favourite movie is a neopets-version of Tangled because Flynn reminds her of her dad (and it helps her understand the whole 'thieves can be good people, too' concept).

In my headcanon, if two neopets of the same species get together and procreate they will end up with a kid of that species. If neopets of two different species procreate, they will end up with a kid of one of their species, or a random species. No hybrids. It will be born a random colour because the thought of painting an actual neopet is weird. What kind of parent paints their kid? If it is born baby-colored it will remain that colour (but continue to age) unless it takes a morphing potion. Morphing potions are not as weird as painting oneself.

I hope that clears everything up. Have a great week, guys.


	7. F: Fights

I just really wanted to release a chapter on a leap day. This one's a bit sadder than I expected it to be, but these can't all be happy stories, that would get boring. Plus, I felt the need to fill in this hole left by TNT.

* * *

><p><strong>Fights<strong>

_"Was chasing after me really that important to you, sweetheart?"_

* * *

><p>Brynn was walking down the streets of the rougher area of Brightvale when she saw him exit one of the bars. He had something pressed to his chest, but she couldn't make out what it was before he disappeared down one of the winding allies. Brynn followed after him, quickening her pace in order to catch up.<p>

She caught up to him as he turned another corner. "Hanso!" He turned upon hearing his name, and that was when Brynn noticed the blood.

"You shouldn't be here," he said.

"What happened?" A bruise was beginning to form around his left eyes, and he was bleeding from several cuts on his face, though it was nothing compared to the blood soaked cloth he was holding off to the side of his stomach.

"Got into a bar fight," he said. "I'm fine. You should go, this isn't a very nice area. There's plenty of thieves in the bar still, and I'd hate to find out what would happen if they ganged up on you."

"I'll go," Brynn replied, "but I need you to come with me."

"I haven't done anything," he said sharply, his usually care-free manner gone.

"You're hurt, you need medical attention. As I am on patrol for this area tonight, it is my duty as a guard to assist you. Regardless of what you may or may not have done." When he did respond, she added "and... I'm... kind of lost."

He smiled slightly as she said that. "Was chasing after me really that important to you, sweetheart?"

"I wouldn't call it chasing, you weren't going very fast."

"Cut me some slack, I was injured." He glanced down at the cloth he was holding, and sighed. "I suppose it would be best if I went back with you."

"What happened?" Brynn asked as the two neopets began to walk back to Brightvale Castle.

"You remember what happened yesterday with Kanrik?" Brynn nodded in reply.

- x -

_"That son of a-!"_

_"Sir, please calm down," Brynn said, cutting off the gelert. "I have returned your item, now I must ask you to leave the-"_

_"What about him?" the gelert demanded, gesturing to Hanso. "He stole a very valuable item from me, and if I hadn't gotten it back..."_

_"He will face the consequences for his actions, and-"_

_"And if you find your way out," the gelert interrupted Brynn again, addressing the ixi thief this time, "you'd better not come crawling back to the guild, or I'll have your sorry-"_

_"Kanrik!" Brynn yelled. "Please stop threatening him. I have asked you to leave, and if you do not comply I will be forced to restrain you, lest you try to harm him."_

_"Watch your back," Kanrik hissed at Hanso as he left._

- x-_  
><em>

"You didn't go back to the guild, did you?"

"No, I'm not that stupid! I... just went to one of the bars, I didn't think he'd be there. But he was, along with a couple of his friends..." he trailed off, but Brynn didn't need to hear the rest of the story in order to know what had happened next. They continued to walk in silence until they reached the castle. Brynn led him down into the dungeons, and then off to another room with a desk and a couple of chairs. He had been interrogated here before by guards, most of their questions receiving snarky answers rather than useful information.

He sat down the desk, and watched as Brynn rummaged through one of the drawers, pulling out a roll of fresh, white bandages. She set them down on the rough surface of the desk, along with a cloth, and then left the room after he promised to stay put. She returned with a jug of water, which she also set down on the desk. Having assembled the needed supplies, she poured a little bit of water on the cloth, and handed it to Hanso to clean his facial wounds with.

Brynn then removed the bloody cloth he had been using. Her eyes widened slightly, and Hanso stopped dabbing at his face with the other cloth. "Is it bad?"

She didn't reply, her blue eyes fixated on the torn fabric around the wound stained with blood. Slowly, she began to undo his belt, and then removed it along with his jacket. Setting them aside on a nearby chair, she did the same with his shirt.

"I thought you were going to give me a fresh cloth or something. But if you wanted to do... other things, that'd be fine by me, too," Hanso said with a grin. In the safety of Brightvale's dungeons he was back to his old self.

"Hanso, shut up!" she snapped. "I needed to take off your shirt in order to bandage the cut, _not_ because I want to see you without a shirt." She was blushing, much to Hanso's amusement. She took the wet cloth from him, and dabbed at the gash with it, pressing slightly harder than necessary. She heard him inhale sharply, and she smirked. That ought to shut him up for the time being.

After cleaning the wound as best she could, she set the cloth down on the desk, and set to work wrapping the bandage around it. She was nearly finished when the door to the room opened behind her.

"Brynneth? What are you doing?"

Brynn turned, her stomach sinking when she saw who was standing in the doorway. It was King Hagan, and to say that he looked unhappy would be an understatement. The expression on his face suggested that he had just walked in on the two of them making out.

"Your majesty, I can explain," Brynn said, stepping away from Hanso, the remainder of the roll of bandage still in her hand.

"There's no need to explain," the king of Brightvale replied. "It's clear that you have a soft spot for this thief.

"He hasn't done anything wrong!" she protested. "He was hurt, I just brought him here to bandage him up."

"Hasn't done anything wrong? Brynneth he has been convicted of multiple accounts of theft! I can not allow you to continue to pretend that he's anything more than a thief. You are letting your feelings get in the way of your responsibilities. You were such a promising pupil, up until you met _him_."

"I won't let it happen again," she replied, blinking back tears. She wouldn't cry in front of King Hagan, and she certainly wasn't going to cry in front of Hanso.

"I know it won't. Brynneth, I think it would be best if-"

"No!" she cried, interrupting him. "I can do better, please just give me another chance! I promise you that if he commits another I'll... I'll..." she was unable to finish her sentence. She knew full well what the consequence for multiple accounts of theft were, but she didn't want to say it.

"Give him the proper sentence for his crimes," the King finished for her. She nodded, though she was lying. She knew she wouldn't be able to go through with it if it came to that. The King was silent for a few minutes as he considered this. At last he sighed, and said, "Very well. You may have another chance. But if I catch you bending the law one more time for him, there will be consequences. For the both of you." With that he left, shutting the door behind him.

"Brynn..."

"Don't." She finished wrapping the bandage, handed him back his jacket, shirt and belt, and then waited for him to redress.

"I'm sorry," he said once he had finished. "I swear, I-"

"Go."

"Brynn-"

"Just go!" she yelled. "I don't care where, as long as it's anywhere but here! You've almost cost me my job more times than I can count, and I've had it with you! After today I never want to see you again. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Brynn watched as Hanso left the room, and waited until his footsteps faded before sitting back against the desk, and burying her face in her hands.

* * *

><p>And that's how I imagine Hanso almost got Brynn fired from her job. She tells him this in chapter 7, but if you think about it she could just be reminding him that he almost got her fired because they were getting too close. Takes place after Brynn's promotion to Captain, because I doubt King Hagan would promote her after nearly firing her. Obviously they do meet up again, and in my timeline it's during TFR. Hanso was in Faerieland for the festival because he relocated there after getting kicked out of the thieves' guild and nearly causing Brynn to be fired.<p>

As for the name of the future daughter mentioned last chapter, I'm going with Claire for the time being. Thanks for the all the suggestions. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, despite the lack of a happy ending and fluff.

ETA: HOLY STONED PIE, I JUST CHECKED THE NEWS AND TNT FINALLY ADDED THE BRYNN AND NABILE SMILIES I HAVE BEEN REQUESTING FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS! You guys should all thank me for this...


	8. G: Gamesmaster

I am really sorry about the delay. I wasn't really sure what I should write for this chapter, and it wasn't until today that I decided to write something about the recent happenings with Roo Island. Also, I was busy the prior week with presentations for school and a trip to Buffalo with my family. In addition, I received an acceptance letter from one of the universities I applied to, and I'm trying to convince my parents to let me go to school away from home.

And to the reader who pointed out that the story has been entirely romance so far despite being categorized as Romance/Friendship, you are right. The friendship was kind of a catch-all because I knew the story wouldn't always have explicitly romantic chapters. I am changing the second category to adventure because I think that will fit better.

This story is a bit of a lighter, sillier chapter. I also submitted it to the NT times because I felt like it. I don't really expect it to be accepted, but I'm going to try for a couple of weeks anyways. You never know.

Done rambling for now, enjoy the story.

* * *

><p><strong>Gamesmaster<strong>

_"Sweet Fyora, he was beginning to understand how Jazan felt."_

* * *

><p>Hanso had laughed when Fyora had told him that there was an artefact that needed to be recovered from Roo Island. The thought of something dangerous lurking on the cheerful island populated by blumaroos, dice, and gummy snacks was ridiculous. The only thing remotely scary on Roo Island was Deadly Dice, and even that was a joke.<p>

Naturally, this earned him an elbow to his ribs and a glare from Brynn, who always took her job seriously, no matter how ridiculous the task seemed. She had then reassured Queen Fyora that the two of them would take care of the artefact, and escorted Hanso out of the room before he started laughing again.

"Come on Brynn, even you have to agree that the idea of Roo Island ever being in danger is pretty silly." The two were descending the staircase that lead to Queen Fyora's throne room, which occupied one of the tower's in her newly constructed castle. Hanso would have assumed that after everything Faerieland had gone through, the faeries would be slightly fazed by high-up rooms and the like, but apparently this was not the case.

"Faerieland falling out of the sky and Brightvale being attacked by wraiths were also pretty silly ideas at one point as well, Hanso," she reminded him.

"Still..." he trailed off, deciding that arguing with Brynn would be useless. "Where would the artefact even be? Underneath a pile of gummy snacks?"

Brynn rolled her eyes. "I swear, you are incapable of taking anything seriously. Remind me why I decided to work with you again, please."

"Because Queen Fyora asked you to help, and you take on what ever job you are given, even when you really shouldn't. Besides, I take some things seriously."

"Name one."

"...our relationship?"

"Nice to see you've got your priorities straight, there," Brynn teased.

"Hey, at least I'm honest," Hanso replied.

- x -

Despite their differing opinions on the importance of the mission, they left for Roo Island early the next day. They had left many of their usual artefact hunting supplies at home, because even Brynn had to admit that the mission was certainly not their most dangerous. They had boarded their boat to the island along with quite a large number of passengers, which was unusual. Roo Island was not a very popular destination.

"What are all of these pets doing here?" Hanso asked Brynn. "Either they're on the wrong boat, or we are."

"King Roo had some sort of new games arcade built, I believe. Apparently it's the best in Neopia."

"Well, they better stay out of our way," Hanso muttered. "They last thing we need is a bunch of kids screwing up what should be an easy job." He glanced over at a group of preteen girls, who were pointing at him and giggling.

"Ask him!" a green aisha with curly brown hair and braces hissed at one of her two friends.

"No!" the other girl, a blue gelert, shrieked, and the group once again dissolved into nervous giggles.

"Are they going to do that for the entire ride?" Hanso asked Brynn.

"How should I know?"

"You're a girl!"

"Thanks for noticing," she said sarcastically. "Really, your observation skills are outstanding. They should give you an award."

"I just figured you would know, since you were their age once," Hanso added quickly, trying to fix his mistake.

"You make it sound like I'm forty or something. Besides, I was never like that."

As their conversation took place, the one of the girls had finally worked up the courage to go and talk to Hanso.

"Excuse me?" Hanso and Brynn looked up at the girl, a blue cybunny with blonde hair. "Are you Hanso? As in the thief? I was wondering if I could ask you something?" She had an annoying habit of posing everything she said as a question.

"Well, you've already asked me three things, so I suppose a fourth couldn't hurt," Hanso informed her. At first, he was amused by the fact that he had so many fan girls, and even more amused by the fact that Brynn's tendency to act possessive whenever they approached him (he assumed it was some sort of kougra hunting instinct). Now, though, they were beginning to get on his nerves.

"Are you single?" the girl asked, and her friends giggled some more. Sweet Fyora, he was beginning to understand how Jazan felt. This horrified him.

"No," he answered warily. "I have a girlfriend. In fact, she is sitting right beside me, and if you do not return to your seat I can not guarantee that she will not threaten you with her sword." The girl cast a frightened look at Brynn, and then scampered back to her seat. This time, her friends did not giggle. This may have been due to the fact that they, along with many other passengers, were busy staring at the approaching shoreline. While it was common for some passengers to obsessively watch as their destination grew closer, Roo Island should not have garnered this much interest. Brynn and Hanso turned to look at the shoreline as well, and what they saw shocked them.

Roo Island was slowly being devoured by a mass of purple.

"It's the Krawken!" a random passenger shrieked. "The Krawken has returned!"

"Don't be stupid!" another passenger scoffed. "The Krawken isn't purple!" The passengers continued to shout suggestions as to what the purple mass may be, and among them an airplane and a bird were suggested, despite the fact that the purple mass was clearly neither of these things.

As the boat grew closer, someone was finally able to correctly guess what the purple mass was. "It's bugs!" the shouted, and a few other passengers shouted in agreement."

"Looks like I was wrong," Hanso said, turning back to Brynn. "This job isn't going to be so easy after all..."

- x -

The boat docked at Roo Island Pier, which was thankfully devoid of bugs. After the passengers had settled down from their small panic attack, they were herded off the boat by the captain. Brynn and Hanso remained where they were seated until the majority of the passengers had left the dock.

"Madness, isn't it?" the ship's captain, an elderly male blumaroo, commented as Brynn and Hanso left the boat."

"It certainly is," Brynn replied, her gaze focused on the purple bugs that were currently swarming the forest that bordered the island. "When did the bugs arrive?"

"Shortly after the new arcade was built. King Roo didn't think it was ready to start running just yet, but that Avinroo kid, he insisted that it open as soon as possibly. We heard there would be a few bugs with the machines, but we didn't think that meant this type of bug!"

Hanso laughed. "Or this many, I'm guessing?" The captain and Brynn both glared at him, and he quickly shut up.

"Do you know where Mr. Avinroo lives?" Brynn questioned.

The captain snorted. "Mr. Avinroo. Better not call him that, it'll go straight to his over-inflated head. That kid has an ego bigger than all of Neopia. His sister is pretty sweet, though, as is his cousin. She left the island recently, but the siblings are still here if you'd like to talk to them." He gave Brynn the address, and after thanking the captain she left with Hanso to go track down the Avinroo siblings.

- x -

They reached the house shortly, avoiding the bug-infested areas of the island. Along the way they had notice some odd fissures in the ground, is if though the island was cracking from the added weight of the bugs.

"This is like, the third time something like this has happened to an island," Hanso commented as Brynn knocked on the door. "Faerieland sinks, Krawk Island gets groped by the Krawken and split into pieces, and now this. What in Neopia is going on?"

The door was opened by a small blue aisha, who, upon looking at Hanso, screamed. "IT'S HIM!" she shouted. "ARI, IT'S HIM!"

"Shut up Abigail, I'm about to utterly destroy this boss!" a voice called back from within the house.

"BUT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, IT'S HANSO! HE'S AT OUR HOUSE!" The small blue aisha had disappeared back into the house, and was currently trying to drag her brother away from his game.

"Hide me," Hanso whispered to Brynn, who rolled her eyes.

There was a cry of "NOOO, I WAS JUST ABOUT TO BEAT THE DEMON LORD GHIRAHIM!" before the girl reemerged, pulling her older brother with her, a remote control still clutched in his hand. He forgot about his game entirely when he looked up at Hanso and Brynn, who were still waiting at the door. "You... you weren't lying," the teenager said.

"I told you Hanso was here," his sister said with a smug expression.

"And Captain Brynn, too," he pointed out. His sister rolled her eyes.

"You remind him of this video game character," she explained to Brynn. "Wears green and has a sword like you. Zelda or something."

"Link," Brynn and the boy corrected at the same time.

"Never call him Zelda," Hanso told the girl gravely. "Believe me..."

Ignoring Hanso, the boy extended his hand and introduced himself. "I am Aristotle A. Avinroo, the master of games!" His sister pinched him, and he then added "and this is my dumb little sister, Abigail."

"We'd like to ask you two a few questions, if that's alright," Brynn informed them. Abigail nodded, and led the pair into the house's kitchen. Aristotle followed behind.

"Sorry about the mess," Abigail said, gesturing to the stacks of empty Pizzaroo boxes, paper plates, cups, and other take-out food containers that littered the small kitchen. "I'd take you guys into the living room, but it's just as messy because _somebody_ doesn't know how to clean up."

"That's not my job!" the blumaroo hissed.

"That's not what mum said!" Abigail shot back.

"Where are your parents exactly?" Hanso asked.

"Kiko Lake, I think. Or maybe Neopia Central. We're not really sure," Abigail shrugged. "They like to go on vacation."

"And they just leave you at home by yourselves?" Hanso raised an eyebrow.

"We don't mind it. Ari just plays games all day, and we order take-out food to eat. Our cousin Lulu comes over sometimes to keep us company, too, but she says she's on a case right now, looking for King Roo. She's going to be a detective someday."

"King Roo? Is he missing?" Brynn said in a concerned tone of voice.

"I think she just wants an excuse to snoop through people's stuff some more." Aristotle said with disdain.

"He's just mad because she went into his room," Abigail told Brynn and Hanso. "He hasn't let anyone in there since I found his stupid magazines with all those pictures of naked girls. They were gross."

"Oh yeah?" Aristotle said. "Well you were pretty mad when she went into your room and found your dreamy Hanso diary!"

"What? Dreamy Hanso diary?" Hanso looked alarmed.

"Shut up!" Abigail squealed, blushing furiously.

"_Dear Diary, today I dreamt of Hanso about 90 times_," Aristotle quoted, much to his sister's dismay. Hanso and Brynn exchanged looks, silently debating whether they should question the siblings as they had previously intended to, or just leave.

"If you don't shut up I'm going to delete all of your saved game files!" Abigail yelled.

"You wouldn't dare!" The two siblings began to physically fight each other, and Hanso and Brynn took the opportunity to slip out unnoticed.

- x -

"Those two are completely mental," Hanso said as they walked away from the house.

"There was no way we were going to get any information out of them," Brynn sighed. "Now what are we going to do? We can't just leave Roo Island like this!"

"They said their cousin was taking care of it, right? Why can't we just leave it to her?"

"Because she's just a kid, Hanso! And we can't forget about the artefact that Queen Fyora sent us to retrieve in the first place."

"Right. We'll just grab the artefact, and leave the bugs to Roo Island's Royal Guards. That's their job isn't it?"

"But..."

"Brynn, this is way beyond our control. They need an exterminator, not two artefact hunters."

"I suppose." She sighed again, and looked at their surroundings. "Where would it be?"

"Follow me," Hanso said. "I've got a plan." He took Brynn's hand, and led her over to where Count Von Roo resided. "We're going to the home of the only thing that could be considered remotely dangerous. If he doesn't have the artefact, I don't know who does."

"This is precisely why I'm the boss," Brynn muttered. "You have the stupidest plans..."

- x -

They returned to Faerieland the next day, the supposedly dangerous artefact in tow.

"Have you retrieved it?" Queen Fyora asked when they entered the throne room.

"Yes," Hanso replied. He held out a pair of dice. "I have been told these are deadly."

"Indeed they are," Queen Fyora said gravely. She took the dice from Hanso, and informed them that they would be stored with the rest of the artefacts that they had recovered.

"That's it?" Brynn asked once they left. "That's the dangerous artefact? They're... they're just dice!"

"Deadly dice, Brynn. Deadly Dice."

* * *

><p>DREAMY HANSO DIARY. I wish I was making this up, but I am not. This item was one of the room raid items from November (2011). The quote was taken from the item description, and it makes the item 50% funnier. I have never wanted to own a neocash item so badly.<p>

By the way, the porn magazines and Zelda references were removed from the NT submission, and the title was changed. So if it does get in, consider it the unofficial version of the story. This version is the official.

I have a plan for the next chapter, so unless it takes me really long to write there will not be as long of a delay.


	9. H: Hanso's Girl  Part 1

I'm really sorry about the long delay. I've been busy lately. I'm not finished with this chapter yet, but since the first part of it is as almost as long as a regular chapter I figured I'd let you guys read part of it, and then upload the second part at a later date (most likely sometime this week). It's better than nothing.

In my old TFR continuation Hanso and Brynn went to Mystery Island at one point. This story is a sort of rewrite of that, though this time it will focus more on their actual adventure. Though it uses the same idea, the plot is completely different. To those that haven't read my older stories (and you probably shouldn't), the title is a reference to the old plot.

* * *

><p><strong>Hanso's Girl<strong>

_"I could care less about what Hanso thinks of us. I don't see why everybody is such a fan of him."_

* * *

><p>Hanso awoke to the sound of a cardboard box hitting the hardwood floor, followed by Brynn muttering something under her breath. He sat up in bed, and noticed that the unoccupied side was covered by clothing piles and bags. Brynn was attempting to shove the box back onto the top shelf of her closet, but wasn't having much luck.<p>

"I hope you're packing because we're going on a tropical vacation," Hanso commented.

"Not exactly," Brynn replied, still distracted with the box. "Now that you're up do you mind giving me a hand?" Hanso began to clap, but quickly stopped when Brynn dropped the box and turned around to glare at him.

"Very funny, Hanso. Now get out of bed and help me with this box."

"Or?" he leaned back against his pillow and gave her one of his infamous smiles. There was something satisfying about annoying her.

"Or I'll drop it on _you_ next time."

"I suppose I could help." He reluctantly climbed out of bed, walked over to where Brynn had dropped the box, picked it up, and set it back on the top shelf of the closet. "What where you trying to get?" he asked.

"Those books." She pointed at a small stack of dusty books on Mystery Island. Hanso pulled them off the shelf, and then handed them to her.

"I'm going to get ready. Don't knock the box off again," he teased.

"Don't take too long," she shot back, setting the books down on the bed with everything else. "We have a boat to catch at nine."

- x -

"We've been waiting here for twenty minutes, when they going to get here? I could be lounging around on the beach right now," Roxton Colchester the Third complained to his companion, Clara Chatham. The blue wocky had reluctantly agreed to accompany the infamous explorer and his small kougra sidekick after they had worked together to rediscover the underground land of Moltara. She had only done so because she was eager to see more of the world, even if it meant travelling with the arrogant, misogynistic, egotistical Roxton.

"When the boat gets here," Clara replied with a sigh. "There was probably a delay." The two pets were standing on the dock in Mystery Island's harbour, waiting for Hanso and Captain Brynn to arrive, while Jordie was perched atop of the railing, watching the waves. They had been asked by Queen Fyora herself to help the pair on their mission, as they were familiar with the island.

"Ship," Roxton automatically corrected. "It is called a ship. How many times must I explain this?"

"Nobody calls it a ship," Clara argued.

"Everybody I've talked to calls it a ship," Roxton declared. "Therefore, it is a ship."

"They only call it a ship to humour you."

"Will you two stop fighting?" Jordie turned away from the sea to glare at the two neopets. "If you guys keep fighting Brynn and Hanso aren't going to want to bring us along!"

"I could care less what Hanso thinks of us. I don't see why everybody is such a fan of him," Roxton muttered. "He's just a thief who was in the right place at the right time."

Clara laughed. "You're just jealous of him because he's more popular than you are."

"I am not!" Roxton protested. It was a lie, of course. Though he'd never admit it, he was jealous of the ixi's fame, which was completely underserved in his opinion. For some odd reason, Roxton had ever been that popular a hero, despite the fact that he had helped save Neopia two times and rediscovered a forgotten land along the way, which was a lot more than that arrogant thief had ever accomplished.

"They're here!" Jordie exclaimed, interrupting Roxton's thoughts. He began to wave frantically, and nearly fell off the railing. Clara and Roxton looked over at where the small kougra was waving, and sure enough, a boat was sailing towards the harbour.

"Took them long enough," Roxton said to himself.

- x -

The boat soon docked, and the group of neopets greeted Brynn and Hanso. After a brief introduction, they made their way to the hotel where Brynn and Hanso would be staying for the duration of their trip. Roxton led the way, determined to spend as little time with the ixi as possible. The others trailed along behind him. Hanso was recounting some of his stories to an enthusiastic Jordie, while Clara and Brynn were discussing plans for tomorrow's artefact hunt.

"Roxton," Jordie said, interrupting Hanso's current story once he caught a glimpse of the hotel. "Can I stay here with Hanso and Brynn instead?"

"No," Roxton answered. "Hanso and Brynn don't want you bothering them. Besides, I'm your legal guardian, you have to stay with me."

"Is he your son?" Hanso asked, curious.

"No, I lost my parents when I sent myself back in time with a faerie artefact," Jordie announced, a cheerful smile still on his face.

"What."

"He's Roxton's nephew," Clara corrected. "Jordie's parents were in an accident while at sea. Roxton has been taking care of Jordie ever since. He insists that they're still alive, though..."

"That got depressing fast," Hanso muttered to Brynn, who then scolded him for asking the question in the first place.

They continued their walk to the hotel in silence. Within minutes of entering the hotel's lobby, they were stopped a security guard.

"Excuse me, Miss," the security guard said to Brynn, "I'm sorry, but we do not permit weapons inside the hotel, and I'm going to have to ask you to-"

"I have a license," Brynn informed the draik.

"We still can not permit you-"

"I think you misunderstood me," Brynn interrupted once again. "I have a license issued by King Hagan of Brightvale, and if you have a problem I suggest you go take it up with him."

Before the draik could reply, he was joined by another security guard - this one a skeith.

"It's always a draik and a skeith..." Roxton heard Hanso mutter to himself.

"What's going on here?" The skeith asked his partner.

"Miss Kougra here does not seem to want to abide by our 'no weapons' policy," the draik replied.

The skeith guard smacked his face with the palm of his hand. "You idiot. Do you have any clue who this is?" The draik guard shook his head. "This is _Captain Brynn_, and if you don't leave her alone then you are going to have King Hagan and Queen Fyora to answer to!"

The draik guard paled. "I'm sorry, Miss," he said quickly. "Please enjoy the rest of your stay." He left in a hurry with the other security guard, and Brynn and Hanso were able to check in with no further complications.

"I'm sorry about that," Brynn apologised.

"It happens a lot," Hanso added with a shrug.

"Don't worry about it," Clara replied. "I suppose we'll meet you two in the lobby tomorrow morning around seven o'clock?"

"Seven o'clock?" Hanso repeated. "That's bit early, don't you think?"

Brynn rolled her eyes. "Don't be so lazy, Hanso." Turning back to Clara she said "Seven o'clock is fine."

Clara smiled. "We'll see you then." She and Roxton then left the hotel lobby - after they managed to escort Jordie out of the gift shop.


	10. H: Hanso's Girl  Part 2

I would make an excuse for why I haven't updated this story all summer, but I really don't have one. I'm not a big fan of this chapter/the previous one, but I had to finish it, so here it is. I may rewrite these two chapters in the future, or just delete them altogether. If I do, they will be posted on my livejournal account that I have created to store all of my neopets fanfiction, in case the site ever stops working or my stories all get deleted. You can find the link on my profile if you're interested. Hopefully the next few chapters will be better.

Unfortunately I can't say I'll be back to updating somewhat regularly again, because tomorrow I start university to get a Bachelor of Design in illustration. I'm not sure what the workload will be like, because I've never been to a university, and I'm not going to a regular university. However, the good news is that I have no classes on Thursdays all year, so I maybe be able to update some Thursdays if I'm not too busy. If you want to see my other neopets related stuff I have also put links to my neopets tumblr and deviantart account on my profile.

Anyways, enough rambling. Here is the chapter that too way too long to write. I hope you'll still enjoy it.

* * *

><p><strong>Hanso's Girl (Part 2)<strong>

****_"You're trying to convince me that a _statue_ waltzed up behind us and knocked me out."_

* * *

><p>And so Hanso found himself in the hotel lobby at seven fifteen the next morning. Brynn was irritated with him for taking so long to get ready, and apparently Roxton was too.<p>

"You two are late again." Roxton crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for an explanation.

"We would have been on time if somebody hadn't taken so long in the shower," Brynn glared at Hanso as she spoke.

"Brynn, it takes time to make hair look as good as mine does. It's all about the proper hair products, you see." He smiled at Brynn, hoping the joke would put her in a slightly better mood, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

"Well, now that Hanso has decided to grace us with his presence let's get going. Clara, lead the way." Roxton slung the backpack he had set on the floor over his shoulder. Beside him, Clara pulled a book out of her bag, and opened it.

"Based on the information that Brynn has given me, I suspect that the artefact is hidden somewhere in the tombs of Geraptiku. The smaller ones have all been explored before, but no one has tried setting foot in the largest one, yet ...that I know of. Therefore, the artefact will most likely be hidden in that one. If it weren't, it would have been discovered already. The hike there won't take us too long, but I'm not sure how long it will take us to explore the tombs. I've heard of pets being trapped in there for weeks, even years; many of them never returned."

"They're also full of traps," Roxton continued. But I suppose we can always send Hanso in first to set them all of for us..."

"No way. I'm not being sent first into a dark, creepy tomb _again_. I think it's Brynn's turn."

"You _volunteered_ to go in first the last time we went into a tomb. Besides, whenever you're in dark places you 'explore' them by flailing your arms around! You'll set off all the traps regardless of who goes first, so we might as well make you the first person."

Hanso sighed. "I suppose I could take one for the team. But if I survive this you owe me, Brynn, I hope you realize that.

Having decided who would be sent first into the tomb, the group of neopets set off towards Geraptiku.

- x -

"The path splits of into two different directions," Hanso stopped walking, and announced to Clara, Brynn, Jordie, and Roxton; who were behind him. He had stayed true to his word and entered the tomb first. Thankfully they hadn't encountered any traps yet.

"Maybe this is a trap." Jordie peered into one of the tunnels. "Maybe if we go into one of the tunnels the floor will suddenly disappear and we'll fall into a huge hole. Then how are we going to get out?"

Clara consulted one of her books, and after flipping through a few pages she gave up, and decided that they would have to split up into two groups. "I'll explore the right tunnel with Brynn and Jordie, and you and Roxton can explore the left one. Is that all right?"

"I... I'd rather go with Brynn," Hanso said. "If that's okay with you, Clara." Brynn rolled her eyes.

"Don't listen to him." Turning to Hanso, she said "How many times do I have to tell you that I can take care of myself? Clara and Jordie don't have weapons, so they need me to go with them. You have your dagger, you and Roxton will be fine together."

"But-"

"We are not going to argue about this. You are Roxton are going into the left tunnel together, and that's final. We're wasting time." She, Clara, and Jordie then entered the right tunnel. Hanso watched her walk further into the tunnel, and didn't turn back to Roxton until she had disappeared completely.

He knew she was capable of taking care of herself. She reminded him at every chance she got, after all. And if it weren't so easy to get lost in the tombs of Geraptiku, he would have been fine with being split up. Well, almost fine. Roxton was one of the last neopets he'd want to be stuck alone with, next to King Jazan. As he followed Roxton into the left tunnel he debated about which would be worse - being blasted by King Jazan, or stuck in a tomb forever with Roxton. At least he could annoy the former until his demise.

"Look-"

"Hanso, shut up. The less we talk to each other, the better. I'm no happier about this than you are." And with that they continued their exploration of the tomb in silence, broken only by their footsteps, and an odd, occasional guttural noise that seemed to be coming from somewhere in the walls. Their flashlights barely cut through the darkness.

- x -

An hour later, Hanso tried talking to Roxton again. "Um, I know you told me to shut up earlier, but-"

"What do you want, thief?"

"We've been going down these stairs for an hour now. Doesn't that strike you as a bit... strange?"

Roxton paused, and then nodded in agreement. "You have a point there. This has got to be the longest set of stairs in all of Neopia. I can't even see the bottom, can you?"

Behind them, the sound of stone scraping against stone could be heard. Hanso turned, hoping that the others had caught up with them, but all he could see were stairs. Roxton turned to investigate as well. The sound ceased, starting up again only when they were facing forward again.

"That's pretty weird as well," Hanso muttered. I have no idea what it is, but I don't particularly want to find out. Let's keep going."

"Maybe it was a door opening?" Roxton suggested. We could go back and check. We might even run into Clara, Jordie and Brynn."

Hanso shook his head. "I can still hear it, what kind of door takes that long to open?" The sound was getting louder, but Roxton still hadn't moved. Hanso briefly considered leaving him behind, but before something hard hit the back of his head before he could take another step. The last thing he felt before blacking out was Roxton grabbing hold of his coat.

- x -

"A statue. You're trying to convince me that a _statue_ waltzed up behind us and knocked me out." When Hanso had regained consciousness, he found himself with Roxton in a large chamber lit by a few torches mounted on the walls. Roxton was currently trying to convince him that a statue had brought them here.

"It was being controlled by some sort of voodoo! It knocked you out, but before I could get a good look it knocked me out as well, and then it must have brought us here." He had a serious expression on his face, and Hanso noticed that somehow Roxton had not lost his hat during all of this.

"Roxton, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. It couldn't have brought us here. Do you know why?" He gestured to the walls surrounding them, and then yelled "Because they're aren't any _fucking_ doors!"

"Holy shit, calm down! Do you want it to come back here and hit us again?"

"Stop making shit up! You know what I think? I think you knocked me out so that you could drag me back upstairs to see what that noise was. I don't know what happened after that, but somehow we ended up here."

"What the fuck would I do that for? I'm not lying about the statue. I know it sounds like I've gone crazy, but I'm being serious!"

"Whatever." Hanso replied. He leaned back against the wall, trying to figure out how he could get out of the room. If he spent any more time with Roxton he was going to lose it. "You know what? You're the most arrogant, annoying neopet I have ever had the displeasure of meeting, and I thought _I_ was bad. Fyora, I can't imagine how Clara must feel about dealing with you; I don't even know why Brynn puts up with me sometimes."

He fell silent, and after a moment of hesitation Roxton sat down next to him.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?"

"I'm sure she's fine." He stuck his hands in his coat pocket, and to his dismay he found that his both his flashlight and his dagger were missing. He must have dropped them after being knocked out by Roxton... or whatever it was that had knocked him out. He still wasn't sure if he should believe the lutari.

"Maybe it was a good thing that she went with Clara and Jordie after all. If the statue tries to attack them, she has her sword with her."

"How are they going to find us? I mean, if they do get the artefact, how are they going to know where to look for us? Hell, we don't even know where we are or how we got here. I... I didn't even say goodbye to her. We've been arguing with each other all day."

"You two must be really close friends," Roxton said.

"More than friends," Hanso admitted.

The lutari turned to look at Hanso. "What do you mean by that? You... are you and Brynn... together?"

He nodded. "We... wanted to keep it a secret. Technically I'm a hero now and neopets are starting to realize that I am good, but there are still plenty of neopets out there who hate me. You, for example. And some of them... probably wouldn't mind seeing me dead. I've done things that I'm not proud of..." He trailed off, but continued again after a few minutes. "I just don't think most neopets would approve of Brynn and I being together. We saved Faerieland together, but at the end of the day she's Captain of the Faerieland Guard, and I'm some thief who couldn't be trusted until the very end of things."

"How long have you been together? Romantically, that is."

"Three years. I was thinking of proposing to her at the end of this year, but... that doesn't look like it's going to happen now, is it? We're stuck."

"You'll see her again. We'll see everybody again. There has to be some way out of here. A Colchester never gives up!" Roxton stood up, and began to examine one of the walls. "Hey, did you notice these markings earlier?"

"They're probably just decorative," Hanso replied, tracing one of the designs with his index finger. He stopped when it began to glow, and slowly back away from the wall. "Uh, Roxton?"

"Yes?" The lutari was too preoccupied with another wall to notice the glowing design.

"One of the markings is glowing."

By the time Roxton had come over to investigate several other markings had begun to glow as well. The sound of stone being scraped started up again, and the both of them cast a nervous glance behind themselves. "The statue must be coming back Roxton whispered. It's going to finish us off!"

"There is no statue!" One of the stones making up the wall opposite of them had begun to slowly slide forward. Hanso pointed to it. "It's just a stone."

"The statue is moving the stone. That's how it got us in here."

The stone fell to the floor with a thud, and was soon followed by another three stones, creating a hole in the wall. Hanso walked over to get a better look at what was on the other side, followed by Roxton who was babbling about how the statue was going to climb through the hole.

"I don't see anything," Hanso said, sticking his head into the hole. "I reckon we could climb through it, though." Removing his head from the hole, he looked back at Roxton. "What do you think?" When the explorer didn't respond, Hanso grabbed his wrist, and began to drag him towards the hole. "Since I went first last time, you can go first this time."

"What? No! It was your idea, _you_ go in first."

"I don't think so," Hanso responded. He watched as the lutari reluctantly began to climb through the hole, which was just big enough for him to fit. Hanso figured he'd had an easier time, since he was somewhat skinnier than Roxton. Living on the streets of Brightvale for a few years had its benefits.

- x -

Once Roxton was through the hole, Hanso climbed in after him. It wasn't until he set his down on the floor that he realized it was covered with small bones. Piles of them.

"Pleasant in here, isn't it?" Roxton said sarcastically. At least the other room didn't have bones... though this is more of a hallway, I suppose."

"It reminds me of the catacombs in Neopia Central," Hanso replied. "The public areas are bone-free, but once you get deeper it's like a mass grave. There's a reason why it's illegal to explore anything beyond the areas open to the public..."

"So what were you doing down there? I didn't think you were the grave-robbing type."

"Brynn and I were artefact hunting, of course. We had a guide who maps out the catacombs for a living with us, and Fyora gave us the order so technically it was legal..." The bones crunched underfoot as they made their way through the hall.

"I really hope the Jordie and the girls were able to find the artefact. I haven't seen any sign of it. Then again, you're supposed to be the artefact expert."

"Honestly I don't really care about the artefact anymore," Hanso admitted. "I just want to find Brynn and the others." They turned a corner as he spoke, and after entering a doorway they found themselves face to face with Brynn, Clara, and Jordie, all of whom were completely soaked.

"Well that was easier than I thought it would be," Clara said after a few minutes of stunned silence. "We found the artefact pretty quickly, but we thought it would take us ages to find you guys again."

"You found the artefact?" Roxton repeated.

"I found it!" Jordie piped up. "It was on a pedestal, and I was the first one to touch it!"

"Of course once he picked it up the whole room started to flood with water," Brynn added. "If Clara hadn't found a secret door way we would have drowned."

"The one time a pedestal holding an artefact is booby-trapped and I miss it. Of course," Hanso joked. He then pulled her into a hug, despite the fact that her clothes were still wet. "I'm glad you aren't hurt, though."

"And I'm glad you're not stuck hopelessly wandering around the tomb, flailing your arms about like an idiot," she teased.

Roxton was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Was all of this really necessary? "Couldn't they at least wait until they got out of the tomb to start acting sappy?" he muttered to Clara.

"I think it's cute. You're just jealous because you wish you had somebody like that."

Jordie then interrupted their argument by yelling "Ew, they're kissing! Make them stop!"

Clara chuckled. "Jordie's right, you two. You should probably save that for when we get out of the tomb.

"How are we going to get out of here? They path we're on leads to the flooded room you three just escaped, and Roxton and I just came from a room with only one way out."

"If there's only one way out then how did you two end up there in the first place?" Brynn asked.

"A statue brought us there!" Clara, Jordie, and Brynn exchanged confused looks.

"What?!

"What?"

"What."

"It's a long story..."

- x -

Roxton would later claim that how the group got out of the tomb was a long story as well, and that it involved Jordie, several belts, a bra, and Clara's stack of books, but in reality the group of neopets just wandered down a the hallway some more until they found a door leading them out of the tomb. He would also claim that he was actually exploring with Brynn and Clara and that Hanso had been with Jordie the whole time, but Roxton often... embellished stories of his adventures. (Why do you think he got more credit for his last two adventures than Clara and Lillian combined, hmm?)

As for the others, Brynn and Hanso departed for Faerieland to bring the artefact back to Queen Fyora - after a much-needed rest in their hotel room. Brynn promised Jordie that they would visit again, and Jordie promised he would keep quiet about Hanso and Brynn's relationship. (A promise he would forget a week later)

"Spending time with Hanso wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, was it?" Clara asked Roxton as they watched the boat depart Mystery island's harbour.

"I still don't like him," Roxton said. He felt like the time he'd spent with Hanso in the tomb should have changed something. Like being forced to work with him would have changed Roxton's views and made Hanso likeable, or at least tolerable. But in the end Hanso was still more popular than Roxton. He had found someone that cared for him, and despite his annoying attitude and the things Hanso had done in his past, he was happy. Unlike Roxton.

"I still think you're jealous," Clara replied.

And maybe he was.


End file.
